L.A. Theatre Works

Sundays at 7 PM on KFCF 88.1 FM

July 06

“Fifth of July”

Written by: Lanford Wilson

Directed by: Adam Arkin

Starring: Marin Hinkle, Jay Paulson, Matt Roth

Synopsis: The story of a great dysfunctional family vacation. Members of the Talley clan gather at their ancestral home in Missouri to celebrate Independence Day and to spread their Uncle Matt’s ashes. As the gathering goes on, they reveal their dreams, disappointments, and hilarious eccentricities.

July 13

“Lobby Hero”

Written by: Kenneth Lonergan

Directed by: Bart DeLorenzo

Starring: Tate Donovan, Emily Swallow, Michael Weston, Cedric Sanders

Synopsis: From the disaffected teenagers of This is Our Youth to the embattled siblings in You Can Count on Me, Kenneth Lonergan has become a master chronicler of the American underdog. In his hilarious and highly unusual crime drama Lobby Hero, people on both sides of the law are equally at a loss to explain their messy – but very human – predicaments.

July 20

“An Enemy of the People”

Written by: Henrik Ibsen, in a new adaptation by Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Directed by: Martin Jarvis

Starring: Gregory Harrison, Richard Kind, Emily Swallow

Synopsis: In a small Norwegian village, a respected doctor discovers an unsettling truth about the town’s celebrated therapeutic baths. But when he attempts to redress the problem, he finds that the town’s mayor – his own brother – won’t let a public health crisis stand in the way of profit.
The broadcast includes an interview with Joel K. Bourne, Jr., former senior environment editor for National Geographic.
An L.A. Theatre Works premiere broadcast.

This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world.
qually at a loss to explain their messy – but very human – predicaments.

July 27

“Side Man”

Written by: Warren Leight

Directed by: Stephen Sachs

Starring: Garret Dillahunt, Christine Lahti, Frank Wood

Synopsis: In Leight’s Tony-award-winning play, we meet Gene Glimmer, a brilliant trumpet player whose devotion to his art is upset by the arrival of an unexpected collaborator. Side Man won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, and served as a showcase for Tony winner Frank Wood, who reprises his role as Gene in our production.

The broadcast includes a firsthand glimpse into the life of a sideman with jazz trumpeter Roger Ingram, and a piece on the “underground history” of jazz with Grammy award-winning historian and producer Phil Schaap.

Synopsis: An ex-prizefighter faces a crushing dilemma: should he rat out a corrupt union boss or keep silent while others suffer? It’s an iconic story of corruption and redemption, in the stage adaptation of Budd Schulberg’s On the Waterfront.

The broadcast includes a 2002 interview with Budd Schulberg.

August 10

“Tartuffe”

Written by: Moličre, translated by Richard Wilbur

Directed by: Dakin Matthews

Starring: Brian Bedford, John de Lancie, Alex Kingston, Matthew Rhys

Synopsis: Initially banned in France by King Louis, Moličre's celebrated social satire exposes hypocrisy in the Catholic Church. When a pious fraud worms his way into a wealthy family and manipulates the patriarch into giving up his fortune, it’s up to his family to expose the truth before they end up in the poorhouse!
The broadcast includes a conversation with actor Brian Bedford.

Lead funding for this production was provided by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

August 17

“Lips Together, Teeth Apart”

Written by: Terrence McNally

Directed by: Bart DeLorenzo

Starring: Hugo Armstrong, Kristen Johnston, Steven Weber, Missy Yager

Synopsis: Two couples are celebrating the Fourth of July at the Fire Island beach house of Sally’s recently-deceased brother David. But as Sally wrestles with her guilt and anger over her brother’s death, the two couples circle around their own fear, shame, and feelings of inadequacy.

An L.A. Theatre Works premiere broadcast

August 24

“The Autumn Garden”

Written by: Lillian Hellman

Directed by: JoBeth Williams

Starring: Julie Harris, Roxanne Hart, David Selby, Mary Steenburgen

Synopsis: As the summer of 1949 draws to a close, a group of middle-aged friends are gathering for their annual retreat at a genteel Southern resort. An acquaintance from the past thrusts himself into the yearly gathering, forcing them to re-examine their mundane yet seemingly idyllic existence, and the lives that have passed them by.

Synopsis: It's London, 1879, and the hapless members of the Explorers Club must confront their most lethal threat yet: the admission of a woman into their hermetically-sealed ranks. But the intrepid Phyllida Spotte-Hume turns out to be the least of their troubles, in this hilarious farce starring members of the original Broadway cast.

An L.A. Theatre Works premiere broadcast.

This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world.